Key Data Storage Technology Trends for 2017

At the start of 2017, IT professionals looked to a curated list of storage‑technology trends to identify which solutions were gaining traction and which were fading, focusing on technologies that are already purchasable and deployable.

Cloud‑to‑cloud backup is seen as essential for protecting data stored in public clouds. By replicating data from one cloud service to another, organizations gain redundancy, cost‑effective disaster recovery, and off‑site protection. Experts such as Breiden Bosley and Chris Evans note that economic factors and the maturity of cloud backup solutions are driving rapid adoption, especially for SaaS workloads.

Containers have moved beyond temporary storage to persistent storage use cases. Docker remains the dominant platform, with over five million downloads and 650,000 registered users, while Windows Server 2016 now supports Docker containers on Windows. Vendors like Red Hat, VMware, Portworx, and RancherLabs are adding persistent storage back‑ends for containers, and traditional storage vendors (Dell EMC, HPE, IBM, NetApp) are adapting their arrays for large‑scale Docker environments.

High‑capacity flash drives are pushing SSD density to new limits. Samsung’s 15.36 TB 2.5‑inch SAS SSD and Seagate’s 60 TB 3.5‑inch SAS SSD illustrate the race for larger, cheaper flash, with analysts predicting SSDs will soon undercut HDDs on a cost‑per‑gigabyte basis and potentially replace mechanical drives by 2020.

NVMe (Non‑Volatile Memory Express) is emerging as the low‑latency, high‑throughput interface for modern SSDs. IDC expects NVMe‑based servers and all‑flash arrays to double their sales in 2017, and NVMe‑over‑Fabric (NVMe‑oF) is being standardized to extend NVMe distances. Market forecasts project a $57 billion NVMe market by 2020 with a 95 % CAGR.

Software‑Defined Storage (SDS) separates storage management software from the underlying hardware, enabling policy‑driven automation and flexible resource allocation. SDS categories include hyper‑converged infrastructure, storage virtualization, and object/file‑based solutions, with vendors such as VMware, Dell EMC, Nutanix, and NetApp offering products across these segments.

32‑gigabit Fibre Channel (32‑GigFC) continues to evolve as the preferred protocol for high‑performance SANs, especially as all‑flash arrays demand greater bandwidth. Industry leaders like Broadcom (after acquiring Brocade) and Cisco are promoting 32‑GigFC alongside 100‑GbE Ethernet to meet the bandwidth needs of NVMe and other flash‑centric workloads, with broader adoption expected in the latter half of 2017.